In the last month two beloved animation films from the directing duo of Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois have found their way back onto big screens in the form of live action remakes. Both (the original) Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon represent, in this reviewers opinion, the best films of their respective studios in the 21st century and now both are raking in cash with a new generation. Neither remake is especially good and their varied approaches to adaptation gave us a pretty good picture of how the whole live action remake trend is a lose-lose for consumers. 

Stephen King hated Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the The Shining. His comments about the film and its director have softened somewhat over the years but I think a lot about that response in comparison to the praise he lavishes on far less essential adaptations of his work. On the screen King requires an expert translator of his writing. Someone who can take the ideas and themes from the stories and dig deeper or realize them more fully. Frank Darabont did this when he directed the ever enduring The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. Like it or not, Kubrick is one of those visionaries. After Doctor Sleep and now The Life of Chuck, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Mike Flanagan simply is not that translator.

As a project this year we are taking a trip through time to revisit all of the Best Picture winners in history, Wings to Anora. From Here to Eternity is the twenty-sixth film in that series, to see all the other Best Picture reviews, click here.